Beautiful
by CurlyMustache
Summary: Evey only gets a peek, but to her what she sees is beautiful.
1. Chapter 1

It was a fragile moment.

Her hands touched his mask, gripped the edges of it. Her hands touched his mask and his hands immediately grabbed hers, pulling them away, away from the truth.

Her eyes dropped and she rested her forehead against V's shoulder, "I'm sorry," she murmured.

One of his arms circled her middle and another rested in the dip of her back. She loved being held by him even if she did not – could not – know who he was. Her hand found his gloved one and she entwined her fingers with his while they danced.

The jukebox did not play, but neither of them needed the music. Both were silent for a long time.

Finally, Evey raised her head and stared at V, seeing but not really seeing. She traced the ceramic lips and with her thumb before she touched them cautiously with her own. V stopped dancing, his head tilted downward to stare at her.

Using the same hand she had traced V's mask with, she touched the edge of the mask and started to lift it slightly. V stopped her.

"Evey –," he tried, but she cut him off by pressing her body against his.

With a stern look, Evey murmured, "Shhh. Trust me, V."

V trusted her impeccably, however, he could not let her raise his mask, "I do, but you cannot take off my mask."

"I won't, then," Evey answered simply. With a quick jerk, she raised the mask over his lips. She gasped in spite of herself at the scarred, red skin that covered his lower face. His lips were… mutilated. Hardly even lips. They were scarred from burns, just like his hands.

V grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away, his mask dropping to hide his monstrous features. He pulled himself away from Evey and stalked over toward the jukebox.

"V…" Evey said, her voice broken and despairing. She walked up behind him and twined her arms around his middle, leaning her cheek against his shoulder, "Please."

"'Please' what, Evey?" the masked man said, "Please let me see your face, just so I know that you truly are a monster?" V turned around after Evey unwrapped herself from him, "You do not…" V trailed off.

Evey stepped close to the man once again and, without seeking his permission, lifted up his mask to reveal his lips, "They're beautiful."

She leaned in with her head tilted so as not to bump the mask's nose with her own and pressed her lips against the scarred and broken ones. She relished in the feel of the other man's lips. All of her respect, devotion, pity, lust, and love flowed out of her through the kiss.

She reveled in the feel of V holding her when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her taut against him. Her arms snaked around the man's neck and she clung on to him, standing on her tip toes.

When the need for air became too great, she pulled away and panted slightly, staring at V's lips while she did so. She raised a thumb and prodded them apart slightly.

"Beautiful?" V questioned.

She sighed in delight and dived back in for another kiss.

This time, V took more control, but was graceful nonetheless. His tongue traced her lower lip and she parted them, allowing the man's tongue to slip into her mouth, much like a serpent would slither through grass.

Evey was so content. She could stand her for hours upon hours, simply kissing this man, kissing him and discovering every crevice of his mouth, every scar on his face.

When they pulled away again, V lowered his mask and murmured, "That is quite enough for the moment, hm?"

Evey's eyebrows dropped a little in disappointment, but extracted herself from the man and pressed a song on the jukebox. They two stepped away and began dancing once again.

'_For the moment,' _was what kept running through Evey's head.

...

**A/N: I think I'm happy with this story. Maybe. I just watched the movie a half hour ago for the first time. Why couldn't they kiss for realsies. Sob. Anyway, I know raising the mask is kind of against the whole movie but screw that shit she got to kiss him it's called fanfiction for a reason *flail.* R&R. Thanks. **


	2. Chapter 2

Almost five years after the explosion of the Parliament, Evey sat at her kitchen table. Things had changed drastically. No longer were the people afraid of their government. It was the government that was afraid of their people.

'Just like V wanted,' Evey thought.

V…

She had been thinking about him. It was November the fourth, after all. Tomorrow was a holiday. They had made a holiday.

She sighed, running her hand through her short, choppy hair. She had decided to grow it back out from its shaven look but kept it short and straight, unlike before. She stared at a mask that looked quite like the one V used to wear.

Nearly everyone in England owned one. Dear God, she missed him. His beautiful voice, his beautiful lips.

After the explosion, she had not had any more romantic affairs. She couldn't. Not with the thought of V always on her mind. Maybe one day she would get over him, but it was not very likely.

Evey went to sleep early that night; however… she woke up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling, as if she was being watched. She sat up and stared into the darkness of her room, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She glanced at the clock. 11:42. Nearly November 5th.

She didn't see anything, but she got out of bed anyway. She wandered into the kitchen and began to make herself tea. Again, the strange feeling she felt before was back. She was suddenly very aware of her surroundings. She swallowed.

"Who are you?" she asked without turning around to see the person who had snuck into her home.

"Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask," the man said.

Evey's heart stopped. She slowly, slowly, turned around to find V there, wearing his mask. Tears immediately spilled from her eyes, but she said, "Well I… I can see that…"

"Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is," V said quietly, staring at her.

Evey covered her mouth to muffle her sobs and slowly moved towards V, not believing.

"R-ight," she choked.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition."

"V, shut up," she said and tackled him, both of them tumbling into the nearest wall. She lifted his mask with blurry eyes that could not see entirely, found his lips with her fingers, and kissed him. She kissed him until she could no longer, but only pulled back and breathed a moment before kissing him again.

She molded her body against his and kissed him with no rest. He held her and tears fell down her cheeks, into the kiss. Both of them tasted the salty liquid and V pulled back eventually, his gloved hand coming up to hold her cheek.

Evey leaned into the leather but stopped for a moment. She took both of his hands and slipped the leather gloves off. She felt the back of his hand's with her fingers. The skin there was uneven and coarse but nonetheless she brought one of his open palms to her lips and kissed it. Guiding his hand with her own, she put his palm against her cheek and leant into it.

"Beautiful," she said with a choked laugh that turned into another sob. She wound her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest.

"I missed you, Evey," V said, his hands soft but firm against her back.

…

**A/N: So there we go. I left it a bit cliché and I'm not at all sorry. I did have a different second chapter written that I was going to post along with this would-be third chapter but I didn't like it and I thought it was a tad unnecessary. I also really did not feel like elaborating on how the government changed, nor how V is still alive. It's because V (as well as Hugo Weaving) is very fucking badass and awesome. R&R~!**


End file.
